Honestly given the ridiculous ad spend on Call of Duty I would think that sort of success is a given. It's plastered all over every form of entertainment media, the level of exposure is absurd.

I don't think CoD has ever really been very innovative though, they used to increment nicely but the yearly pace of release is just silly. Why does there have to be a CoD title every year? Because money. I remember when franchises were set aside for years while work and ideas accumulated. It's a shame because I think this sort of thing will actually have negative long term repercussions for the industry as a whole. Money now might mean burning people out later but sadly its all about the quarterlies with these corps.